Concern has been raised about noise generated by the new £660m gas-fired Staythorpe Power Station.

Nearby residents in Staythorpe and Averham say the background noise of the power station is louder than promised, and in some cases is keeping them awake at night.

Newark and Sherwood District Council has placed sound monitoring equipment in homes to measure noise levels.

Mr Chris Shardlow, of Staythorpe Road, Averham, said he believed it was turbines and cooling towers that were causing the noise.

“It’s not so noticeable during the day but it certainly is at night,” he said.

“You can’t have the windows open and the noise is actually coming through the walls and the windows.”

Mr Shardlow said planning permission for the power station stated that background noise emitted should be no more than 38 decibels.

He said: “What I’ve read says that should be a sound like that made by a fridge motor.

“During the day we get road noise from the A46, the A617 and Staythorpe Road but that’s fairly quiet at night.”

Miss Deborah Storey of Behay Gardens, Staythorpe, said the noise was bearable during the day but it woke her at night.

“I am frequently woken in the early hours of the morning,” she said.

“They kept telling us not to worry about it because when it’s all finished we won’t hear it.

“We’ve had our fair share of trouble and stress and it’s been a worrying period but we thought we were working towards an end that would be to the benefit of the grid and would be better for us so we were sticking with it.

“Now, something needs to be done.”

Miss Storey said one of the nuisance noises was similar to that of an aeroplane going overhead but lasted for much longer.

“When I talk to other people it seems to be some of us are more prone to being affected by lower level noises and some of us higher pitch noises,” she said.

“I think screening would do a lot from a sound point of view.”

The district council’s environmental health team leader, Mr Jeremy Hutchinson, said: “The council has received complaints about noise from Staythorpe Power Station and is monitoring noise levels.

“We are also in the process of talking to npower about the complaints.”

Mr Andy Marshall, Staythorpe Power Station manager, said: “We are working closely with Newark and Sherwood District Council’s environmental health officer and local residents to try to establish the source of the noise. We hope to resolve the situation as soon as possible.”